Maybe I'm just a mere simpleton, but I think that you people crying for the death of Gizmodo or any other nonsense need to chill out.

We all love the iPhone, we were all eager to see the next gen iPhone, and you folks GLADLY went to Gizmodo, sucked up all the images/video and became engrossed in all of the regurgitated stories here on AI.

Now all of a sudden, after you've gotten what you want, you want to burn Gizmodo at the stake. Puhlease!!

I'm concerned that Gizmodo named the engineer. They already had the phone, confirmed by Apple as real. Why did they feel the need to further ruin this guy's life? It's cruelty for the sake of cruelty.

When I developed firmware for cell phones (for several years), I regularly used prototypes for testing. Final "plastic" was always quite different from the prototypes and always a tightly guarded secret (because phones are a fashion accessory, too). Chances are that this iPhone is a good predictor how the actual phone will look but that the final product will not look exactly like it.

I think it's one of many prototypes of iPhone. It might not even be a specific prototype of iPhone 4th gen. I'm sure Apple had built many of these to test various things. Isn't there a news that Apple has a lot of iPad prototype in every shapes and forms?

Judging by the story Gizmodo itself published, the person who found it on the bar stool realised it was an Apple prototype (or should have based on their description of the device), the night it was found. They also knew the name of he person at Apple it belonged to. According to Gizmodo, this was "weeks" before they got it, and according to everyone else, Gizmodo had it for a week before they opened it up.

We're not dealing with geniuses here. It's Gizmodo after all.

No, the story says is wasn't until the next morning, when he sobered up that he realized it was not a standard Apple iPhone.

But he, giz and all of us had not way to know it was Apple property, let alone an Apple prototype. Just look at the hundreds of posts on AI of people that were insistent that it was not an Apple device. How would some drunk know better? How would Giz know it wasn't a chinese knock off until the opened it up? How would you or I know this? We couldn't.

By time Giz got it, it was nonfunctional, so they had no access to the information on the phone. They have not stated that they knew the facebook at account at that time. It is very possible the finder informed them of this during their later interview with him.

"My 8th grade math teacher once said: "You can't help it if you're dumb, you are born that way. But stupid is self inflicted."" -Hiro.

An open box containing over a hundred Zunes was found sitting in the Seattle bus station. Microsoft said the contents were intact and no merchandise was taken. The cleaning staff said that the box had been sitting out in the open for over a month but nobody came to claim it and they eventually phoned the Redmond software giant asking them to please take the box away.

I am a BIG non-believer in conspiracy theories, so I DONT think it was intentionally left. If it was ME that found the phone? I would have definitely checked it out thoroughly and told everyone about it, but no photos. I know Steve's a hard-a**, but he obviously gets a kick out of being the first one to show the world Apple's latest cool creations, and he's earned the right to do it.

I'm concerned that Gizmodo named the engineer. They already had the phone, confirmed by Apple as real. Why did they feel the need to further ruin this guy's life? It's cruelty for the sake of cruelty.

He had already reported it lost/stolen at work, so he was already suffering whatever consequences were coming. if he reported it stolen and it is actually the case that he lost it, whether they named him or not, he is in for further discipline.

"My 8th grade math teacher once said: "You can't help it if you're dumb, you are born that way. But stupid is self inflicted."" -Hiro.

They should leave leaks and rumors to the PROS who have a proven, reliable, and LEGAL track record like Appleinsider.

Compare the quality of Appleinsider articles to Gizmodo "articles." It's like pitting professorial work against grade school tabloid mediocrity.

The lessons to be learned here are as follows:

1. Do not lose a prototype of a highly secretive product.
2. Do not pretend to be a serious source of journalism when you are a 3rd rate blog.
3. Do not brag about your exclusive access to sensitive information, put your mug right in the video, and then claim that you did not know the prototype was obviously considered "lost" or stolen material.

He had already reported it lost/stolen at work, so he was already suffering whatever consequences were coming. if he reported it stolen and it is actually the case that he lost it, whether they named him or not, he is in for further discipline.

Did he say how he lost it though? He could have made up a believable story that might have gotten him somewhat off the hook, but as it is, he is screwed now that the unit has been exposed to humanity. Poor, drunk sucker. He could have sold it to Giz for a decent payday.

They said they did, actually. Among other excuses. However, it made no difference, I didn't say that they could keep it, so they were guilty.

What is a reasonable attempt? Unless the finder is specifically told that it was now theirs, my suspicion is that the law will come down on the side of the owner. At least I hope it will, otherwise anyone who wants to steal anything can give me or you or whoever owns the item a phone call, claim no answer or some other such nonsense, and be off. Hey, phone records will show that they tried, right?

Enough letters for Apple's legal council are out there, it would not be hard to find them. I suspect a phone call to the right place would be acted on quickly. Or maybe not, and Apple will soon be looking for new council. Or, maybe the conspiracy is right, and Apple planned this all along..... We'll soon see. Maybe.

If they called you and spoke to you and you gave them no indication that it was yours, I would say that was a reasonable attempt....especially if the 'phone record' contains details of the conversations between you and him...and they were your records. Hard to deny it if you yourself recorded the call...

"My 8th grade math teacher once said: "You can't help it if you're dumb, you are born that way. But stupid is self inflicted."" -Hiro.

...then where's the details? Yeah, I see pictures. Does it have the A4 processor? Haven't seen that anywhere yet. You'd think that if they went and ripped into the thing, they'd at least have taken some interesting details...

Did he say how he lost it though? He could have made up a believable story that might have gotten him somewhat off the hook, but as it is, he is screwed now that the unit has been exposed to humanity. Poor, drunk sucker. He could have sold it to Giz for a decent payday.

No idea. But if he told Apple it was stolen and it turns out he lost it, then Giz reporting his name isn't going to make Apple be tougher with him. He filed the report, so they know who he is already.

At least he is getting his 15 minutes, though the circumstances could have been better for him.

"My 8th grade math teacher once said: "You can't help it if you're dumb, you are born that way. But stupid is self inflicted."" -Hiro.

It's a common behavior that when you find something you attempt to return it to its rightful owners. The iPhone could've been returned to the Apple Store, given to the authorities, or left in the Lost&Found at the bar. The one who found the phone should be ashamed of himself and Gizmodo should've known better, but I guess greed took over.

Receiving stolen goods is generally buying or acquiring the possession of property knowing (or believing in some jurisdictions) that it had been obtained through theft, embezzlement, larceny, or extortion by someone else.

Was the phone obtained through theft, embezzlement, larceny, or extortion?

I am a BIG non-believer in conspiracy theories, so I DONT think it was intentionally left. If it was ME that found the phone? I would have definitely checked it out thoroughly and told everyone about it, but no photos. I know Steve's a hard-a**, but he obviously gets a kick out of being the first one to show the world Apple's latest cool creations, and he's earned the right to do it.

No, if you find something of value in any establishment you turn it in to the propriatars. Taking it with you is called stealing. Are people on this list really that morally ignorant?

I assume AI pays its sources of leaks and info. Does that fall under "bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a duty to maintain secrecy" . How is that different from what Gizmodo did? Maybe Kasper should be sent to jail then, or at least shut down the site.

Idiots like Gizmodo need to be made an example of by the courts. Otherwise, everyone else will think it's okay to essentially bribe people to break the law to line their own pockets since no one gets prosecuted.

What law did the guy break? The reports said that he tried to find the owner at the bar.

Can you imagine how grateful Apple would've been to Gizmodo had they kept their mouth shut and handed the device over to Apple. Now Gizmodo will be on Apple's Scheisse-Liste and will never receive early info or articles from Apple.

I was wondering when Apple would act on this obvious theft. Just because someone left something behind does not give someone else the right to take it. That is theft. Screw the legal crap- use common sense.

No, if you find something of value in any establishment you turn it in to the propriatars. Taking it with you is called stealing. Are people o. This list really that morally ignorant?

Stop making up your own laws and trying to pass them off as fact. Can you list any property law that states one must turn found property over to the proprietor? Most laws I have perused in my ignorance, do not state this. No where. They do say the finder may take charge of the item, i.e. hold it, and they must make reasonable efforts to contact the owner and return it without request for payment. But nothing about handing it over to a bar owner.

I'd really like your input on this. Perhaps, as you state, you could find a 5 year old to back it up.

"My 8th grade math teacher once said: "You can't help it if you're dumb, you are born that way. But stupid is self inflicted."" -Hiro.

I was wondering when Apple would act on this obvious theft. Just because someone left something behind does not give someone else the right to take it. That is theft. Screw the legal crap- use common sense.

bullshit. You just stole my time with this post. Is that a indictable offense? No, that would be me making up my own fabricated charges. oh well, I guess we all do that.

"My 8th grade math teacher once said: "You can't help it if you're dumb, you are born that way. But stupid is self inflicted."" -Hiro.

Was the Find My Phone feature simply not working that day? Or the next? In other words Remote Wipe worked, but FMP didn't?

Probably too late for anyone who read this to read the response, but find my iphone does not work once you wipe the phone. They must have made the judgement call to wipe the sensitive data instead of trying to recover the phone before sensitive data was discovered.

Stop making up your own laws and trying to pass them off as fact. Can you list any property law that states one must turn found property over to the proprietor? Most laws I have perused in my ignorance, do not state this. No where. They do say the finder may take charge of the item, i.e. hold it, and they must make reasonable efforts to contact the owner and return it without request for payment. But nothing about handing it over to a bar owner.

I'd really like your input on this. Perhaps, as you state, you could find a 5 year old to back it up.

You would have fit in well at Enron. The term a 5 year old could define is 'wrong'.

Just thinking back to the Thinksecret incident a year or two ago, that was nothing compared to this. This is an aggravated case of ethical misconduct. It is not in the public interest to reveal Apple's trade secrets to the public, unlike leaks of information that some individual or group in government, for example, are keeping hidden from the sovereign people and which might affect the conduct of public policy. This was a clear violation of private property and private interest, Gizmodo would have no case in court and I would not be sorry to see them closed down like Thinksecret was. I won't be visiting their site again, that's for sure.

Wait a minute. None of the players in the this story have spoken of or taken any action toward a lawsuit. A lawsuit is not part of the story. AppleInsider bringing it up as a possibility is not reporting but speculation, bordering on advocacy, that Apple could or should sue. Meanwhile, AI and all other media have benefited hugely from page views due to this story. Loving the story while wanting to shoot the messenger?

How can Gizmodo be blamed when everybody is running the story? If the phone didn't end up with Gizmodo it would have ended up on the Internet somehow. An Apple employee made a mistake, and Apple apparently lacked the foresight to have a contingency plan for "civilians" to return lost prototypes quietly, and so everything that followed was inevitable. Deliberately or not, it's Apple that caused this to happen.